The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-264554, filed on Aug. 31, 2000, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to video games. More particularly, the present invention relates to a sports video game in which a player handles a movable ball on the ground.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a ball game such as a baseball game or a soccer game, in general, there often occurs a scene in which a ball flies high or a scene in which a ball moves far away. The foregoing scene is formed by making a player hit a ball with a bat or making a player kick a ball through a user""s operation.
For example, in a baseball game, in the case where a batter makes a hit to the outfield, there is a case where the ball goes up after the hit and disappears from a screen. At this time, the scene is changed to a fielding state of a fielder playing the outfield, and priority is given to provision of the scene in which the user can operate the movement of the fielder.
In addition to such consideration, when the ball goes out of the screen, processing to inform the user of the position of the ball is performed. That is, in general, there is adopted such a method that the arrival point (fall point has also the same meaning) of the ball is obtained by calculation in advance, and a mark is given to the arrival point. In the baseball game like this, such processing is performed that when a batter hits a ball, a mark is displayed at the arrival point of the ball.
For example, in xe2x80x9cPLAY-BY-PLAY POWERFUL PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL 99xe2x80x9d (product by Konami Co., Ltd.), such processing is performed that an elliptical mark is displayed at an arrival point of a ball hit by a batter, and the mark is rotated until the ball arrives. For the user, the arrival point of the ball can be found at an early stage, and thereby, it is possible to quickly move a fielder capable of catching the ball to the arrival point of the ball,
Also in xe2x80x9cSUPER-SPACE NIGHTER PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL KING 2xe2x80x9d (product by Imagineer Co., Ltd.) or xe2x80x9cMAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TRIPLE PLAY 99xe2x80x9d (product by Electronic Arts Victor Inc.), such processing as to display an elliptical mark at the arrival point of a ball hit by a batter is performed similarly. In this case, such a method is adopted that the size of the mark is changed until the ball arrives so that the arrival point is emphasized.
In recent years, with the improvement of technique of computer graphics, the expressive power for a game has been abundant. Thus, the more abundant the expressive power becomes, the more realistically the movement of a player appearing in the game or the movement of a ball indirectly moved and controlled can be displayed. The expression with such reality raises a feeling of presence still more, and considering an operation input necessary for game proceedings while judging the movement of a player or the direction of a ball from the real display becomes enjoyable.
However, in the foregoing prior art, since the arrival point of a ball is indicated by a mark in advance, the user has only to concentrate the operation on moving the player toward the display mark (arrival point of the ball). Thus, it is not necessary for the user himself or herself to predict the trajectory or arrival point of a ball traveling such a flying distance or height as to go out of the screen, and the operation is a simplified one, that is, the movement to the arrival point, though the expressive power for the game is improved.
An object of the present invention is to provide a computer readable recording medium recording a program of a ball game and the program, and a ball game processing apparatus and its method, in which the real pleasure of operations by the combination of the operation support of a computer and the operation skill of the user himself can be obtained.
In order to solve the foregoing problem and to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a computer readable recording medium records a program of a ball game, which realizes the ball game in which a player handles a movable ball on the ground. The program causes a computer to execute a calculation of a trajectory of the moving ball, a judgement of a height of the ball moving on the calculated trajectory at a present movement position, and an indication of a future movement position positioned ahead of the present movement position on a time axis by a mark on the ground. The mark follows a movement position of the ball moving on the calculated trajectory, and changes a color in accordance with the judged height of the ball at the present movement position.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a program of a ball game realizes the ball game in which a player handles a movable ball on the ground. The program causes a computer to execute a calculation of a trajectory of the moving ball, a judgement of a height of the ball moving on the calculated trajectory at a present movement position, and an indication of a future movement position positioned ahead of the present movement position on a time axis by a mark on the ground. The mark follows a movement position of the ball moving on the calculated trajectory, and changes color in accordance with the judged height of the ball at the present movement position.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a ball game processing apparatus includes a computer readable recording medium recording a program for realizing a ball game in which a ball is handled on the ground, a computer for reading out at least a part of the program from the recording medium and executing it, and a display for displaying the ball game realized by the program. The computer reads out at least the part of the program from the recording medium to calculate a trajectory of a moving ball, and to judge a height of the ball moving on the calculated trajectory at a present movement position. The computer also indicates a future movement position positioned ahead of the present movement position on a time axis by a mark on the ground. The mark follows a movement position of the ball moving on the calculated trajectory, and changes color in accordance with the judged height of the ball at the present movement position.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a ball game processing method for realizing a ball game in which a player handles a movable ball on the ground is characterized in that a trajectory of a moving ball is calculated. The method also includes judging a height of the ball moving on the calculated trajectory at a present moving position, and indicating a future moving position positioned ahead of the present movement position on a time axis by a mark on the ground. The mark follows a movement position of the ball moving on the calculated trajectory, and a color of the displayed mark is changed in accordance with the judged height of the ball at the present movement position.